Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Apple iOS 12 New Features & Updates

As you know apple ios 12 has launched worldwide and here is some important new features and updates about ios 12 all you need to know.

1. Performance

Ahead of the debut of iOS 12, rumors suggested Apple had shelved several features in order to focus on performance and reliability. That turned out to be true, and Apple says that it has worked to make iOS 12 fast and efficient on all devices, including older iPhones and iPads.

On an iPhone 6 Plus, for example, Apple says apps launch up to 40 percent faster, while the keyboard can appear up to 50 percent faster. When opening up the camera on the Lock screen to take a photo, it launches up to 70 percent faster.

Apple has worked to make animations smoother and more responsive across the operating system, so when you perform tasks like accessing Control Center, scrolling in apps, or swiping up when multitasking, everything feels more fluid.

Apple's "deepest focus" in iOS 12 was on optimizing the system when it's under load, and on stage, Apple's Craig Federighi said that apps launch up to twice as fast under load, as does the Share Sheet.

Apple made these improvements by optimizing iOS across its full range of A-Series chips. In iOS 12, when an iPhone or an iPad detects that a burst of performance is needed for something like launching an app, processor performance ramps up instantly and then ramps back down again to preserve battery life.

iOS 12 users have already noticed speed improvements on devices old and new, and these improvements will likely get even better with refinements throughout the beta testing period.

2. Notifications

This is a big one. The system gives you a lot more control over your notifications, so you're not constantly being bombarded by alerts. Now, when you swipe down from the screen, you'll notice that app notifications are bundled together — instead of one for each alert from a single app. Tap it to expand and see every notification. You can also manage them by doing this:

Select a notification

Swipe left across the screen

Tap "Manage"

Choose "Deliver quietly" if you don't want it to play a sound when the alert comes in, or choose "Turn off" to deactivate the notification entirely.

3. Siri

Siri gets a few tweeks in iOS 12, but the most significant change has to be Siri Shortcuts app.

Siri Shortcuts

Siri gets a new app called Shortcuts, although rather than arriving with iOS 12, you need to download it from the App Store here in order to get it.

Once installed, open the Siri Shortcuts app and tap on Gallery to see a gallery of ready-made shortcuts, such as Calculate Tip, Log Water, Make PDF, or Remind Me At Home.

You can also create shortcuts that work with Apple and third-party apps. These can be (potentially multi-step) voice-triggered actions tailored to individual apps.

Any app can add Shortcuts. It just displays an 'Add to Siri' icon, and this allows you to create a voice shortcut for a specific feature of that app. Examples include "Help me relax" triggering a meditation app, and "Order my usual groceries".

Siri in iOS 12 will contextually suggest shortcuts in the lock screen: if you order a coffee every morning, it will suggest triggering an action in the Starbucks app, say. Or it will suggest "Turn on Do Not Disturb" when you're at a cinema, or remind you to call your grandmother on her birthday.

You can create your own shortcuts with Shortcuts app - a shortcut for "surf time", for instance, might get the weather and an ETA to the beach, set up a reminder to put on sunscreen and so on. Here's how to make a Siri shortcut.

Siri Accents

Speaking of (or to) Siri, you have a few more Siri accent options in iOS 12. English speakers have been able to change Siri’s voice from male to female with the choice of three accents since iOS 11, now in iOS 12 you also get the choice of Irish or South African.

Siri Translations

Siri can now translate words and sentences into more languages - there are up to 50 different combinations.

4. Carplay

simply walking and using Maps for directions or driving in a car without CarPlay. Both the tone and taps prepare you for your next turn without glancing at your iPhone or waking your watch screen. Apple Watch even has distinctive tones to distinguish between left and right turns:

CarPlay puts Apple Maps (and now Google Mapsand Waze) on the built-in screen in your car, however, and the display matched with audio cues can make alerts from your watch sensory overload — or at least redundant.

Maps even has an option to mute alerts on CarPlay and just use navigation for viewing traffic conditions and your estimated time of arrival, but Apple Watch will still send navigation alerts even in this mode.

New with iOS 12 and watchOS 5 is the ability to actually opt out of navigation alerts when driving with CarPlay and Apple Watch. The feature is offered in the Watch app on iPhone on the My Watch tab and the Maps section.

Turn alerts can now be toggled on or off individually for Driving, Driving with CarPlay, and Walking. If you’re like me and find the navigation alerts on Apple Watch redundant when driving with CarPlay, turning off that middle option should create a more relaxed driving experience.

5. Screen Time

Screen time is Apple's way of limiting your iPhone usage – calculating how much time you're spending on apps, which apps you use the most, and which apps are sending you the most notifications Screen time doesn't lie.

For those without self-control, Apple has created app limits. You can set your own limit, with a notification letting you know when time is almost up. A 'Time is up' message will display when you've reached your self-imposed-Siri-assisted limit.

Parents can create limits for kids with Allowances, time-of-day-based downtime controls, and category controls. Education and essential message apps can also be greenlit thanks to an always-allowed settings.

The best part? Setting limits for your kids uses Family Sharing, so you can manage it all remotely from your parental device – no need to get hold of your 12-year-old kid's phone to execute on these new iOS 12 controls.

6. Memoji

There are more Animoji this year, but Memoji are the big new addition in iOS 12. In case you're not up to speed, you can do more than just put on a virtual T-Rex mask for your silly messages: You can cobble together your own, with dozens of options for skin tones, hairstyles, eyebrows, head shapes and more. If you've ever agonized over creating the perfect Mii, you have a good idea of what to expect. The thing is, the novelty of putting a virtual face on top of my real one didn't last long when Animoji debuted last year, and Memoji hasn't changed that. Don't get me wrong: I spent the better of 10 minutes meticulously building a chubby, brown, Pixar-like Memoji and had a great time doing it. I just can't remember the last time I -- or anyone I knew using iOS 12 -- actually used one in a conversation.

This would've been the part of the review where I talked about the pure madness that is a 32-person Group FaceTime call but, uh, the feature isn't actually ready yet. Curiously enough, Apple yanked support for those massive chats from this release even though it was present -- and mostly functional -- in the earlier beta builds. Apple has never offered a reason for its decision, so all we can do is wait until the feature goes live sometime this fall.

7. Photos

Apple is adding search suggestions to Photos, which will offer, people, places, and activities when you go to search for photos. Search based on business names, events, and even use multiple search terms.

The new For You tab will contain your Memories, as well as featured photos that you've taken. You'll also see activity for shared albums and get sharing suggestions, which suggests photos to share and people with whom you can share them. People who receive shared suggested photos will be given suggestions for similar photos to share with you from their own albums.

8. Security

Using SMS to enable two-factor authentication on your apps and services? Now you’ll be able to autofill those verification codes so you won’t have to switch between apps every time.

Safari can now create and store randomly generated passwords, reducing the risk of your account getting hacked by someone guessing “password123.” Password manager users can rest easy, too. You’ll be able to use apps like 1Password, Dashlane, and other password managers to automatically fill out login prompts, meaning the days of copy and pasting secure passwords is nearly over.

9. User Interface

Apple is giving the iPhone a more fluid UI with some tiny tweaks in iOS 12 designed to shave tenths of seconds off each interaction.

You may not even notice the changes once iOS 12 launches to the public, but in a session at WWDC last week, Apple revealed how you can now perform actions without waiting for UI animations to finish. It sounds like an insignificant update, but once you see it in action you’ll be swooning for iOS 12’s release.

The changes aren’t major but when you’re interacting with your iPhone over a hundred times a day, all those extra seconds add up. Minimizing device usage and screen addiction has become one of Apple’s main goals with iOS 12. This looks like another way to help you get to what you want faster so you can spend less time on your iPhone.

With iOS 12 you can now swipe to go home, then swipe to the next page on your home screen while the app is closing. You can go into multitasking while an app is launching. If you launch an app and realize it’s the wrong app, you can now shoot it back down while it’s opening.

There’s also a new option to interact with an app as it launches, which looks like the most useful of the UI changes.

10. Battery

Express Card with power reserve – On the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR, iOS 12 retains enough battery life even when the phone powers off for digital transit cards and student ID cards to still work. For now, support for the former is limited to China and Japan and the latter to the US but expect that to change.

Cellular smarts - when you’re without cell coverage your iPhone will constantly look for it, so iOS 12 adds ‘No Cell Coverage’ to the Battery Usage by App list at the bottom of battery settings. This will help alert you to apps which are particularly power hungry in dead zones.